JP4828137B2 - Support structure of telescopic arm in transfer machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a support structure for a telescopic arm in a transfer machine, and in particular, in a telescopic arm of a transfer machine mounted on a stacker crane or the like, the entire transfer machine is reduced in weight, and a transfer load (hereinafter referred to as “cassette”). The telescopic arm support structure in the transfer machine that enables smooth transfer of the transfer.

Conventionally, in a factory for manufacturing electronic components such as liquid crystal, organic EL, and semiconductor, a plurality of substrates for electronic components such as liquid crystal, organic EL, and semiconductor (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”) are stacked and stored. After the cassette is mounted on the transfer machine provided in the stacker crane, and the stacker crane is run along the transfer line, the cassette is stopped at a predetermined stacker storage shelf position, and the transferred cassette is transferred to the stacker crane by the transfer machine. Transfer from the side to a predetermined storage shelf.
The plurality of storage shelves provided in the stocker are arranged so as to be parallel along one side or both sides in the running direction of the stacker crane that runs along the transport line.
In addition, the transfer machine mounted on the stacker crane is disposed so as to be movable up and down with respect to the main mast of the stacker crane, and has a telescopic arm that is stretchable. A cassette is mounted on the stacker so that the telescopic arm can be smoothly transferred from the stacker crane side to a predetermined storage shelf of the stocker by expansion and contraction of the telescopic arm.

  By the way, the conventional stacker crane has a main mast of a required length established on a traveling carriage that can travel along a transportation line such as a rail, and can be raised and lowered in a cantilever manner with the main mast. It supports a transfer machine equipped with a telescopic arm. In particular, as the stocker increases, the height of the main mast increases, the size of the substrate stored in the cassette increases, and the number of stored sheets increases. Tend to be.

For this reason, when loading / unloading a transfer machine with a heavy cassette in the storage shelf at a high position of the stocker with the main mast being cantilevered and raised to a relatively upper position In particular, when the telescopic arm of the transfer machine is extended so that the entire load is supported by the arm, the unbalanced load on the main mast increases. To ensure that this main mast operates safely so that it does not buckle or break due to unbalanced loads, and to prevent the telescopic arm from bending even under heavy loads on the cassette, it must be made stronger than necessary. Therefore, not only the transfer machine equipped with a telescopic arm, but also the overall construction and weight of the stacker crane is increased, the entire equipment is enlarged, the capital investment is increased, and this is uneconomical. There was a problem that the power cost to drive the car would be large.
In addition, the weight of the cassette to be transferred varies greatly depending on the number of substrates accommodated in the interior, but the telescopic arm simply expands and contracts with respect to the main body of the transfer machine. Since the transfer operation of the cassette is performed by moving the transfer machine up and down by fine movement with respect to the main mast, there is a problem that it takes time when the cassette is transferred.

  In view of the problems of the telescopic arm in the above conventional transfer machine, the present invention reduces the load applied to the telescopic arm to prevent the uneven load applied to the main mast, and the lifting operation during the transfer of the cassette. It is an object of the present invention to provide a support structure for a telescopic arm in a transfer machine which can perform a cassette transfer more smoothly and reliably by performing at the tip of the telescopic arm.

In order to achieve the above object, the telescopic arm support structure in the transfer machine of the present invention is arranged such that a plurality of arm pieces having a required length are vertically stacked via linear motion bearings, and slide to each other to expand and contract. And a lower arm piece of a telescopic arm having a telescopic arm of the transfer machine, the frame of the transfer machine serving as a fixed side of the telescopic arm, and a base end side of the frame that is swingably supported with respect to the frame. A bending mechanism composed of a spring that is bent according to the weight of the cassette to be mounted is disposed between the arm and the tip of the telescopic arm so that the arm is supported on the storage shelf side of the stocker when the arm protrudes. It is characterized by comprising a tip support mechanism.

In this case, the arm tip support mechanism is configured by arranging guide rollers at two positions in the front and rear direction of the upper arm piece, and the front guide roller at a fixed position with respect to the upper arm piece. It is possible to dispose a bending mechanism constituted by a spring that is rotatably supported and swings in the vertical direction according to the weight of the cassette on which the rear guide roller is mounted .

  Further, the arm tip support mechanism can be a guide roller and can be supported by a guide rail formed on a storage shelf of the stocker so as to be able to roll.

  Further, a cassette raising / lowering mechanism for raising and lowering the mounting cassette can be disposed on the upper arm piece.

According to the support structure of the telescopic arm in the transfer machine of the present invention, a plurality of arm pieces having a required length are arranged so as to be vertically stacked via linear motion bearings, and transferred so as to slide and expand and contract with each other. A telescopic arm of the machine, and a frame of the transfer machine which is a fixed side of the telescopic arm, and a lower arm piece of the telescopic arm which supports the base end side of the frame so as to be swingable. A bending mechanism composed of a spring that is bent according to the weight of the cassette to be mounted is disposed, and an arm tip support mechanism is provided on the tip side of the telescopic arm so that it is supported on the storage shelf side of the stocker when the arm protrudes. Therefore, even if the cassette weight is different, the difference in weight can be absorbed by the flexure mechanism. The transfer operation can be carried out smoothly and smoothly, and it is not necessary to make the main mast that supports the telescopic arm and the transfer machine so that it can be moved up and down. Can be achieved.

In particular, if the weight of the cassette to be loaded is different by arranging a bending mechanism composed of a spring between the transfer machine frame and the lower arm piece, the weight difference will be adjusted in accordance with the extension of the telescopic arm. Since it can be absorbed naturally, it is possible to smoothly transfer the cassette without applying an excessive load on the telescopic arm during the transfer operation.

Also, the arm tip support mechanism is configured by arranging guide rollers on the upper arm piece at two positions in the forward and backward direction of the protrusion, and the front guide roller can be rotated at a fixed position with respect to the upper arm piece. All guide rollers are supported even when a heavy cassette is loaded by providing a flexure mechanism that consists of a spring that supports and swings in the vertical direction according to the weight of the cassette on which the rear guide roller is mounted. A uniform support load is applied to the guide roller, so that uneven wear of the guide roller can be prevented, and smooth cassette transfer can be performed without overloading the telescopic arm.

  In addition, the guide rail can be easily and reliably attached by supporting the guide roller of the arm tip support mechanism in a rollable manner by the guide rail formed on the storage shelf of the stocker.

  In addition, by arranging a cassette lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the loading cassette on the upper arm piece, only the cassette is lifted and lowered by the cassette lifting mechanism provided on the arm, so that the entire transfer machine is slightly lifted and lowered. The cassette can be easily transferred without any trouble.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a support structure for a telescopic arm in a transfer machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show an embodiment of a telescopic arm support structure in the transfer machine of the present invention.

  In a liquid crystal manufacturing factory or the like, although not particularly limited, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of thin substrates (hereinafter referred to as “substrates”) such as glass thin plates are stacked in a cassette. The stacker crane C is transported along the transport line R for each cassette, and the cassette is transported to the storage shelf side by the stacker crane of the transport line at the storage rack position of the predetermined stacker. The stacker crane C is provided with a transfer machine 3 that can be moved up and down on a main mast 2 established at an upper portion of a transport carriage 1 having a plurality of traveling wheels W and guide wheels W1 and W2 at a lower portion, and The transfer machine 3 is provided with an extendable telescopic arm A for transferring the cassette K, whereby the telescopic arm A is expanded and contracted at a predetermined storage shelf position. Telescopic arm A going in and out of the door, so that the transfer in between the storage shelf.

The telescopic arm A mounted on the transfer machine 3 is not particularly limited. For example, a plurality of arm pieces 41 and 42 (two in the illustrated embodiment) having a required length are stacked one above the other. The upper and lower arm pieces are configured to slide smoothly between each other through linear motion bearings so as to expand and contract.
Further, on the base end side of the telescopic arm A, in detail , according to the cassette weight mounted on the telescopic arm between the frame 31 of the transfer machine 3 and the lower arm piece 42 constituting the telescopic arm A. A bending mechanism 5 is arranged to be bent.
The bending mechanism 5 is disposed between the frame 31 of the transfer machine 3 on the fixed side and the lower arm piece 42 supported so as to be swingable with respect to the frame 31, and this is particularly limited. Although not intended, for example, as shown in the figure, a plurality of disc springs are stacked. Thus, the load weight is to deflect naturally When such telescopic arm A.
By arranging the bending mechanism 5 on the base end side of the telescopic arm in this way, even if the cassette load applied to the telescopic arm varies depending on the number of substrates stored in the cassette, the bending mechanism 5 From the light weight cassette to the heavy weight cassette, the telescopic arm and the storage shelf can be smoothly transferred without overloading.

Further, the upper arm piece 41 is provided with a cassette lifting mechanism 6 for adjusting only the cassette K mounted on the upper surface thereof by finely moving up and down during transfer. Although this cassette raising / lowering mechanism 6 is not specifically limited, For example, it is set as a link type as shown in FIG.2 and FIG.4.
This is done by swinging the link mechanism 62 so as to bend and stretch with the screw rod 61 that can be switched between forward and reverse rotation by driving the motor, and ascending and descending the table 63 provided on the tip side of the link mechanism 62. The cassette K is mounted on the table 63.
The cassette lifting / lowering stroke of the cassette lifting / lowering mechanism 6 is not particularly limited to the extent that the cassette K can be transferred from the telescopic arm A side to the storage shelf side or in the opposite direction during cassette transfer. For example, it may be about 30 to 100 mm. As a result, the cassette moved up and down to a predetermined position by raising and lowering the transfer machine of the stacker crane C up to a predetermined position can be easily finely moved up and down with a simple configuration without moving the transfer machine main body finely moving up and down. The transfer between the telescopic arm and the storage shelf can be performed reliably and accurately.

Further, on the distal end side of the telescopic arm A, as shown in FIGS. 2 (B) and 2 (C), an arm distal end support mechanism 7 that is supported on the storage shelf side of the stocker when the upper arm piece 41 protrudes. The upper arm piece 41 is disposed on the side portion.
This arm tip support mechanism 7 is configured by arranging guide rollers 71 and 72 on the side portion of the upper arm piece 41 and at two front and rear positions in the protruding direction thereof, and the front guide roller 71 is disposed on the upper arm arm. The piece 41 is supported so as to be rotatable at a fixed position, and the bending mechanism 73 is bent according to the weight of the cassette on which the guide roller 72 on the rear side is mounted , and swings in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIG. 2C, a bending mechanism 73 that is bent in accordance with the weight of the cassette mounted on the rear guide roller 72 is a swing frame 74 that is supported swingably with respect to the upper arm piece 41. The guide roller 72 is rotatably supported on one end side, and a spring mechanism 75 is disposed on the other end side, so that when the weight of the cassette mounted on the guide roller 72 is applied, the spring mechanism 75 is bent. The swing frame 74 is swung so as to absorb the load. The deflecting guide roller 72 and the fixed guide roller 71 can support the cassette load applied to the upper arm piece 41 in a uniform manner, so that all the guide rollers 71, 72 can be supported even when a heavy cassette is transferred. Uniform support load is applied, and uneven wear of the guide roller can be prevented, and smooth cassette transfer can be performed without overloading the telescopic arm.

The guide rollers 71 and 72 of the arm tip support mechanism 7 are not particularly limited. For example, the guide rollers 71 and 72 are rotatably supported by the guide rails 8 and 8 formed integrally with the storage shelf Sa of the stocker. To do. A support structure of the guide rollers 71 and 72 by the guide rails 8 and 8 is shown in FIG. Thus, the guide rails 8 and 8 are formed integrally with the storage shelf Sa, so that the guide rails can be easily and reliably attached.
In addition, even if the cassette weight to be loaded becomes large, a part of the cassette weight can be supported on the storage shelf Sa side, so that the transfer operation can be performed smoothly and smoothly regardless of the cassette weight, and the telescopic arm In addition, it is not necessary to manufacture the main mast that supports the transfer machine so that it can be lifted and lowered more than necessary, and the entire transfer machine can be reduced in weight and size.

The stocker S in which the stacker crane C can run is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the columns P and P are arranged along the transport line at a width interval in which the cassette K can be stored. The shelf plates Sa, Sa for receiving the cassettes are arranged so as to oppose the shelf plates Sa, Sa for receiving the cassettes between the pillars P, P so as to face each other. A plurality of upper and lower stages are also arranged in the height direction of the columns P and P, so that a large number of cassettes can be stored in a plurality of stages in the stocker.
This storage shelf row is arranged so as to be parallel along both the left and right sides of the stacker crane in the traveling direction, and between the storage shelf rows S1 and S2 opposed to the left and right, a conveyance line, specifically, a rail R laid. A stacker crane C is arranged along the road.
Then, the guide rail 8 is attached to the lower position of the shelf board Sa so as to slightly protrude.

Next, the operation of the telescopic arm support structure in the transfer machine of the present invention will be described.
When the stacker crane C loaded with the cassette is stopped at a predetermined position of the stocker S, the transfer machine is then moved up and down to a storage shelf having a predetermined height and stopped at a fixed position. Thereafter, the telescopic arm that has been in a contracted state is extended and projected toward a predetermined storage shelf row side. This is done by driving a telescopic arm drive.
When the telescopic arm is extended, the cassette load mounted on the arm piece is moved according to the extension degree, and the bending mechanism 5 is also bent according to the load movement, whereby the cassette load is supported by the telescopic arm. .

  When the telescopic arm extends to a certain position, the guide roller 71 projecting from the upper arm piece 41 is supported by the guide rails 8 and 8 projecting from the lower position of the shelf board Sa, and then the guide roller 72 is supported by the arm. Since the cassette load applied to the piece 41 is supported between the guide rail and the guide roller, the uneven load applied to the telescopic arm and the transfer machine is prevented.

  In this state, the telescopic arm is further extended to a preset cassette transfer position to stop the extension. At this time, since the bottom surface of the cassette is slightly above the position of the storage shelf Sa, the screw rod 61 is driven to rotate by driving the motor of the cassette lifting mechanism 6 to swing the link mechanism 62, When the table 63 provided on the tip side of the link mechanism 62 is lowered, the cassette K is transferred from the table 63 side of the telescopic arm to the storage shelf side. Thereafter, the telescopic arm is retracted so as to expand and contract, and the next transfer operation is started.

  As described above, the support structure of the telescopic arm in the transfer machine of the present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiments, and does not depart from the spirit thereof. The configuration can be changed as appropriate.

  The support structure of the telescopic arm in the transfer machine of the present invention is such that when the cassette is transferred to the stocker shelf, the cassette load applied to the arm is absorbed by the bending mechanism and supported on the stocker side and applied to the telescopic arm. It has the characteristic that cassette loading is performed more smoothly and reliably by reducing the load to prevent the unbalanced load on the main mast and performing the lifting and lowering operation at the tip of the telescopic arm when transferring the cassette. Therefore, it can be suitably used for a transfer machine provided with a telescopic arm, and can also be used for a transfer machine equipped with a mechanism for expanding and contracting an arm, an operating bridge, and other delivery devices. it can.

It is a front view which shows one Example of the support structure of the telescopic arm in the transfer machine of this invention. The upper arm is shown, (A) is a plan view, (B) is a side view, and (C) is a side view of a guide roller provided with a bending mechanism. It is sectional drawing of a guide roller support part. It is a side view of a cassette raising / lowering mechanism part, (A) is explanatory drawing before raising, (B) is explanatory drawing at the time of raising. It is explanatory drawing of the stacker crane in a stocker.

A Telescopic arm C Stacker crane K Cassette R Transport line S Stocker Sa Shelf 1 Transport cart 2 Main mast 3 Transfer machine 41 Upper arm piece 42 Lower arm piece 5 Deflection mechanism 6 Cassette lifting mechanism 61 Screw rod 62 Link mechanism 63 Table 7 Arm tip support mechanism 71 Guide roller 72 Guide roller 73 Deflection mechanism 74 Oscillating frame 75 Spring mechanism 8 Guide rail

Claims (4)

A plurality of arm pieces of a required length are arranged in an up-and-down manner via linear motion bearings, and the telescopic arm of the transfer machine is configured to slide and expand and contract with each other, and a fixed side of the telescopic arm Between the frame of the transfer machine and the lower arm piece of the telescopic arm that supports the base end side of the frame so as to be swingable, and is configured by a spring configured to bend according to the weight of the cassette to be mounted. A telescopic arm support in a transfer machine, characterized in that a mechanism is arranged and an arm tip support mechanism is provided on the tip end side of the telescopic arm so that it is supported on the storage shelf side of the stocker when the arm protrudes Construction. The arm tip support mechanism is configured by arranging guide rollers at two positions in the front and rear direction of the upper arm piece, and supporting the front guide roller so that it can rotate at a fixed position with respect to the upper arm piece. and, telescopic arm of claim 1 transfer machine wherein a is disposed a deflection mechanism constituted by a spring which is adapted to swing in the vertical direction in accordance with a cassette weight mounting the rear guide roller Support structure. 3. The support structure for a telescopic arm in a transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the arm tip support mechanism is a guide roller and is supported by a guide rail formed on a storage shelf of the stocker so as to be able to roll. 4. The structure for supporting a telescopic arm in a transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein a cassette raising / lowering mechanism for raising and lowering the mounting cassette is disposed on the upper arm piece.

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